Van Buren Township Trustee arraigned for shoplifting

Van Buren Township Trustee Sherry Frazier, 69, was arraigned April 4 before 23rd District Court Judge Geno D. Salomone in Taylor on a criminal misdemeanor charge of larceny.
Her attorney Russ Donelson entered a plea of not guilty to the charge of shoplifting $297.50 worth of merchandise at Macy’s on New Year’s Eve. She allegedly put two scarves in her purse and, after paying for a sweater, slipped earrings and a planner into the Macy’s bag with the sweater. Loss prevention officers followed her outside when she left the store, according to the report.
Defense attorney Donelson asked Judge Salomone to allow about 30 days before the pretrial date for discovery and the judge agreed. Donelson also said he wished to talk to the Taylor City Attorney about the charges.
Judge Salomone said her posted bond was continued and she was not to contact the victim, ie. Macy’s.
VBT Supervisor Kevin McNamara said he learned of Frazier’s arrest three weeks ago. He said there has been an internal investigation of Frazier and whether she violated the township’s ethics policy. He said this could lead to a recommendation of counseling or censure by the board.
Under state law, however, the board does not have the right to take away her trustee position given by the voters. The only way to remove Trustee Frazier from her post is by a recall election or her resignation.
A hearing on Frazier’s possible violation of the ethics’ policy has been set for the board’s regular meeting at 7 p.m. April 17. Supervisor McNamara said this will be the only item on the agenda.
“We believe the actions of the trustee violated the public trust and a public hearing of these issues is needed to amend that trust,” McNamara told WXYZ-TV.
McNamara said all Frazier needed to do was accept responsibility for the incident and things wouldn’t have gotten to this point.
This is the third time Frazier has been detained for shoplifting, according to a Van Buren Township police report.
According to information obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, VBT Police detained Frazier at 1:51 p.m. May 25, 2009 at the Kmart store parking lot, 2095 Rawsonville Road, after being called by store security.
A Kmart security officer said he stopped Frazier after she rolled a shopping cart full of merchandise out the front door of the store with the alarm system sounding. She was placing unpurchased store property into her maroon truck in the parking lot, he said. The items included paper towels, toilet paper, water and miscellaneous items with a total worth of $206.31.
Officer Donovan McCarthy made contact with Frazier and she told him she did take the merchandise, but that she just forgot to pay for it, according to the report. Store Loss Prevention Manager Dallas Lesperance told Frazier that this was the second time that she had attempted to steal merchandise from this location.
She was cited for the May 25, 2009 retail fraud, a misdemeanor, and she was advised she would go to 34th District Court on the charge. Frazier paid a civil demand from Kmart and the VBT prosecutor dismissed the charge against her.

12 Comments

It seems the best option for this trustee is to resign. I don’t know how she could possibly move forward as an elected official when there seems to be no confidence and no trust. Residents admire that she is outspoken and genuinely cares about the issues but she has made so many bad choices that are hard to ignore.

Agreed, you can’t have a trustee that you can’t trust (not that I trust any of them). Stealing from the stores is stealing from the community. She has lost all rights to retain the post. She should resign for the best interest of the community. If she does not, there should be a recall election.

I will not condone or crucify this Trustee but I will comment on how the politcal vipers of this twp create a mob rule mentality when they smell blood in the water! What I factually no is that no one on that board has the power or the intelligence except for one Trustee and he’s refused to pile on which shows he is smart enough to see the hand writing on the wall. You might think you know who it is , but it will suprise you once there’s light shed at the BRD mtg. All of the accusations are just that accusations. There are many holes in the 2009 story at Kmart, NO Conviction, heck there’s not even a charge just a shady police report that’s heresay from the wanna be Loss Prevention employee, I say this because the article or report states it was the 2nd time at that location. Therein lies the rub, if it were true how was she allowed back on the property without a tresspass violation (to commit a second bite at the apple) Secondly how does VBT BRD convict before latest allegation is adjudicated in court? Third, No charges filed from suspicious Assault and Batt complaint that mysteriously disappeared since it didn’t happenthe way the clerk said it did. Heck both of his own written accounts don’t even match, and lastly, there are no actual twp policies that can be inforced by the rest of the BRD against an Elected Official, and that’s because we have a bunch of idiots representing us! Can u say McCauley. So there’s no there there until whatever happens in Taylor. Sorry about the typo’s

Normally, when something like this happens, the person usually steps up to make a statement right away to remove much of the doubt and accusations. Frazier is the one that needs to step up and let the “mob” know what happened. If it was a mistake, inadvertent, a misunderstanding, or a character short-coming, you need to let the people know, otherwise they will paint whatever picture best suits their frame. I’d have more respect for her if she said “I was in a bad place and made a bad choice” opposed to her comments of “how did you find out about this” and “I wasn’t there” (unless she truly wasn’t there). She’s avoided the question, so we have no choice but to jump to conclusions.

The township cannot do anything to remove her from office, but if she truly cared for the township, she would resign so we can get on with actual business rather than this stupid stuff. I will say that up until a few weeks ago, I considered Frazier in the top 3-4 most trustworthy trustees. Now with this scandal, well, she’s now at the bottom of the 4 most trustworthy trustees, but it really shifts the scales of my trust for any of them. Makes me trust those less trustworthy than her so much more than I mistrusted them before.

It’s understandable that most people would think the same way in regards to coming clean about a situation that has accusations but in this case if her attorney is worth their salt they’ve instructed her that at no time prior to the court litigation, is she to admit to any guilt, so as to jepordize any type of negotiations with the prosecution of her case.

This person had made countless bad decisions over the years. A search brings up assaults attacks lies hysteria and awful behavior. She always gets away with it and it’s time she is accountable. I wonder about her truthfulness in the school suits. It’s scary that she’s in power. Please resign.

Thank you Belleville Independent for finally stepping up and exposing a truth that many of us have known for years. Mrs. Frazier is not the person that she portrays in public. Having had years of unfortunate experiences with her, I am surprised it took this long to expose the issues. As angry as I’ve been at her, I truly believe she needs compassion, evaluation and help. That said, it is also quite clear to me and many others (and it has been for years) that she does not belong in public office. Hopefully she will resign quietly and get past this. Prayers for her and her family. Let’s not bully her (as perhaps she may have done to some of us in the past) but again, urge her kindly yet firmly to seek out the help she needs. We can be better people. So can she.

I have known Sherry for years not as a personal friend but as fellow librarians – it is surprising to read about her decisions but perhaps she has some issues that keep her brain from functioning the way it needs to – yes she should resign and find someone to guide her through these difficult times – we all have issues and perhaps she needs compassion and family to help her through this traumatic event. I have not lived in the area since 2003 but still enjoy reading the local news – we lived on Sunrise Lane – I wonder how many of my friends are still living in our subdivision!
for many years and miss the community where we raised three sons, Eric, now living in St. Louis area, Timothy now living in Paris and Austria and Kris now living in Okinawa. Good memories of a great community and with those universities nearby it could not have been better! I hope it is still thriving!

Again. This ain’t Frazer’s first trip to the rodeo. If it was isolated incident that be different. She’s out of control and must resign. It’s just not the shoplifting that’s the least of it! If she don’t resign just wait. They will be another and another incident. Never ending drama.

I watched the proceedings at the township last night with interest and sadness. It is clear that Frazier still does not understand that she and she alone is accountable for her actions. Let me say again, being vindictive and angry does not help. However, Frazier must seek out professional counseling and help for her addiction to attention and adoration. The retail fraud is an additional indication that she is not currently fit to serve our township. No one wants to hurt her. As has been said a thousand times, her impulsive behavior and addiction to attention has cost VBT and VBPS thousands and thousands of dollars in legal fees, payouts and administrative costs. The meeting last night is a great example. As is the school district lawsuit, where she was vocal and adamant about several related events THAT DID NOT HAPPEN. She lied about these things for attention. It’s all part of her addiction to attention. Let’s not bully, but strongly strongly strongly move her to a position where she can no longer hurt people and hurt taxpayers and hurt herself.